Importing from China

Hi, I have found a few suppliers in China of a few different products I wish to sell but I was wondering what would be the safest, or most used way to pay the companies? Paypal I have heard cannot be used as China uses a free version which allows only money transfer within their border. All 3 companies ask for Western Union or bank transfers which is a risky payment method for both sides (mostly me). Does anyone have any suggestions I can offer to them that they could use in China... Escrow, bidpay? Right now I am just considering using western union and starting out with small test orders to see how it goes in case I need to cut my losses.

Do not use western union for payments. It's too risky. Use escrow instead.

Can a business from China use Escrow? Their government limits many payment types they haven't approved or can't track, like Paypal for example.


Western Union is risky but I have used it before and companies have been in the most part honest with me. I generally keep my transactions around $80 (I use low cost items) or less when using money transfer or western Union until I build trust with a company and so far it has worked because even if I get burned it isn't the end of the world and the good companies have outweighed the bad.

Yes some China services use escrow but you can also use credit card or Paypal on some sites and that is even better than western union because you still have buyer protection.

Yes some China services use escrow but you can also use credit card or Paypal on some sites and that is even better than western union because you still have buyer protection.

Personally I would rather use Western Union over my credit card any day...the wrong person in a foreign country with my credit card number could do 1000x the damage losing a Western Union payment could do.

But I agree Escrow seems to be the best option..just wish more companies over there were more receptive to it.

Hi timg311918

Do you do any dealings with bestdeals2U (bestdealinchina.com). I have come across their company and they offer free shipping as long as 5 or more items are purchased at once, they will dropship direct to your customers. But they only accept Western Union as a form of payment.
I have been talking on Yahoo with the sales manage for the past 5 days trying to nut out all the ins and outs. He seems very helpful and genuine. I have yet to make a purchase yet though.
Have you any thoughts on this?

David

Hi David, No I haven't dealt with bestdeals2u before but I will say the company I was just about to trade with just had their website removed and backed out of madeinchina.com. I am fortunate to have dodged that bullet, but it all came from me asking a lot of questions to them and getting the whole story, which they buckled under. Some of the ways I have to check up on legitimacy of companies is to first search them on search engines for positive or negative reviews, check how long they have been a company, and their website traffic. Also check for past customers or referrals they can give you (don't just accept tracking numbers, anyone can make those up). The last thing you can do to try to remain safe is to start off with small test orders, 99% of the time if the company is not legitimate you will not even receive your first order, or receive very low quality merchandise. These practices have allowed me to takes fewer losses than most people and build relationships with trustworthy sellers in foreign countries. Hope this was of some help.
Tim

P.S most companies I have dealt with that were legitimate or not accepted only Western Union. It seems to be a common practice in China so just be careful, never go out on a limb, and just follow the advice of gambling, never risk what you can't lose.

From 2006 December, all China merchants can accept Paypal with no limits and can withdraw to Chinese banks directly.

We have our China offices pay the supplier-- we send the money by paypal/moneybookers/ikobo to our china offices they withdraw it an pay to the supplier.